Car-door mechanism



March 25, 1924.

B. W. KADEL CAR nook MECHANISM Filed Feb. 21. 1923 IHHll-llllll'll IF .INVENTOR. W

A TORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 25, 1224.

CAR-DOOR MECHANISM.

Application filed February 21, 1923. Serial No. 620,410.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Burns W. KADEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Door Mechanisms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled. in the art to which it ap pertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a door-supporting and closing mechanism for railway cars or the like, and has for its principal ob ect to provide an improved arrangement of car body and door parts whereby force may be applied to the door to close it. A more speciiic object is to provide a door-supporting and closing mechanism wherein the door may be held in a partly closed position and then forcibly moved by means of a removable lever to a fully closed position.

With such general and more specific objects in view, the invention consists of the formation, combination and arrangement of parts as will be herein described and particularly claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which show a preferred form of the invention, Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the lower corner of the hopper of a railway car of the twin hopper type, the same having applied thereto a door-supporting and closing mechanism constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. Figure 2 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the same. Figure 3 is a transverse horizontal section through the edge of the car side and the door, this view being taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1. This type of car is also shown in Wine Patent No. 1,436,927, issued November 28th, 1922.

The invention is particularly applicable to cars of this type, although it may be used with many other types of cars having swinging doors. The invention is also particularly useful with cars having a supporting mechanism arranged to support the door in a partly closed position preliminary to forcing it to a finally close posltlon in which the supporting members may be caused to engage each other to hold the door shut. Such a construction is disclosed in my prior Patent No. 1,434,953, wherein the door is provided with a plurality of hook engaging faces, and also in my Patent No. 1,434,954, wherein the door is provided with a single supporting ledge and the door-supporting hook is provided with a plurality of doorengaging ledges. Any such type of construction may be used with the invention, a construction similar to that disclosed in Patent No. 1,434,954 being shown in the drawmgs.

Referring to the drawings, the hopper side sheet is indicated by the numeral 1, and the hopper floor sheet is shown at 2. Suitable stiffening angles of the ordinary type, such as 3 and 4, may be applied to the lowermost edge of the hopper floor sheet, and the inclined edge of the side sheet 1 may be flanged and offset at 6 to provide a seat 8 against which the swinging door 5 may be seated when closed.

The hinges for the door 5 are not shown in the drawings, as such doors are well known in the art. Similar doors are indicated in lVine Patent, No. 1,431,499, issued October 10th, 1922. The door is provided with a marginal out-turned flange 7, which lies alongside of the flanged portion 6 of the side sheet of the hopper, and the face of the door seats against the'shoulder 8 formed by the flanged oflset in this side sheet. A

door spreader 9 which extends across the outer face of the door 5 is shown as formed of a channel with a portion of its outer end cut away to clear the outwardly extending flange 7 of the door. I

Pivoted to the side sheet of the hopper at 11 is a door-supporting hook 10, which swings in a plane parallel with and just outside of the flange 6 of the said hopper sheet, and also parallel with the marginal door flange 7. This hook is adapted to engage the projecting end of the door spreader 9 to hold the door in partly closed or fully closed position. To this end, the hook is provided with a preliminary supporting ledge 1.2 and a final supporting ledge 13, the one being arranged in advance of the other, whereby the end of the door spreader may be engaged by one or the other to hold the door in partly closed or fully closed position. A hook-locking cam 14 may be piv-.

oted to-the car at 15 and a bracket 16 may be supplied for supporting and guiding the pivoted portions of the hook and the cam. Rivets may pass through the bracket 16 at the pivot points 11 and 15 for attaching the parts to the car side plate 1, and an additional rivet 17 may be passed directly through the bracket 16 and the car side plate.

It is usually not diflicult to close the door to a position where it will be engaged and supported by the preliminary ledge 12 of the hook, but it often requires considerable force to fully close it so that the main ledge 13 of the hook will engage the end of the door spreader. In order that force may readily be applied to the car for this purpose, I have arranged the parts so that a removable lever or pry 18 may be inserted in an opening formed between the main ledge of the hook and the outward edge of the flange 6 of the door, the inner end of said lever being caused to bear upon some suitable portion of r the door. By pulling against its outer end the lever 18 will fulcrum, intermediate its length, against the ledge 13 of the hook, and the door may be thereby forced to fully closed position. During this operation the hook serves as a link between the lever and the car body. 'VVhen the door is in closed position, the hook 10 may be driven down into proper engagement with the door spreader and the lever subsequently be with-- drawn.

The hook 10 lies parallel with and close alongside of the flange 6 of the car side, and also parallel with and not far distant from the outstanding flange 7 of the door. In order that the lever may be readily entered between the ledge of the hook and the door flange without making the hook of undesirable length, the outer edge of the flange 7 of the door is notched at 19, thus also providing means for preventing the lever slipping out of position. The lever will be inserted at an angle through this opening so that a larger sized lever can be entered than would appear from the projected view in Figure 1. I have indicated at 20 how a scction of the lever would appear at the plane of intersection. By this means, I am enabled to employ a lever of considerably larger size and consequently of greater strength at the fulcrum point than would otherwise be possible without either increasing the lengthof the hook or cutting away the door flange to a serious extent.

I have thus described an embodiment of my invention. Other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A car door mechanism including a door hinged to the car body, the same having a marginal fflangei outstanding from an edge of the door, a door-supportinghook pivoted to the side of the car and arranged to swing parallel with said marginal flange into supporting engagement with a portion of the door, said supporting hook having a door engaging ledge and being adapted to hold the door partly closedfor fully closed, the said outstanding flange of the door having a notch in the vicinity of the hook ledge adapted to admit a removable door prying lever, operable between the said hook ledge and the door for forcing the door from a preliminary to a final position of closure.

2. A car door mechanism including a door hinged to the car body, the same having a marginal flange outstanding from an edge of the door and arranged parallel with a side of the car, a door-supporting hook pivoted to the side of the car and arranged to swing parallel with said marginal door flange into supporting engagement with a projecting portion of the door, the hook and the projecting portion of the door being formed and ar ranged for co-engagement in two positions, one in advance of the other, in a manner whereby the door may be supported in par tially or fully closed position, and a notch in the door flange adapted to form an opening between a ledge of the hook and-the door flange for the accommodation of a removable door-prying lever.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

BYERS W. KADEL. 

